Missteps
by miladyFeather
Summary: Heists are games… but both detective and thief are a little too ready to break the rules. This time, it has consequences. The Purple Nail heist wasn't a success for anyone.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: We the authors do humbly profess that we do not actually own the series or its characters. We just borrow them. Frequently. And occasionally for nefarious purposes. Okay, usually for nefarious purposes._

 _This fic was born after the new Magic Kaito 1412 anime (2014-2015) decided to put the Purple Nail heist_ immediately after Nightmare _. And then had both of the boys make_ much _more questionable decisions than they did_ in the manga, the older TV specials or the Detective Conan version of the heist. There's a bit of a difference _between how canon and fanon treats the characters, and the fanon versions of Shinichi and Kaito… they would not have taken that heist well. So we had to write it._

 _Kaito and Shinichi, being the pushy main characters that they are, demanded to have their own points of view on the two situations represented, so each chapter is divided equally between them._

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 **Missteps**

 **Part 1**

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Heists were always an exciting business, Kaito reflected idly as he watched the cheering crowd awaiting KID's imminent arrival. Especially when Suzuki Jirokichi was the instigator. The crazy old man had some good ideas on publicity and even some workable theories on how to catch him, he had to admit, but _really_ , did he think that forcing the crowd _outside_ the barrier would change the outcome tonight?

It was a simple matter to convince the crowd of fans to duck under the barrier of netting in hopes that KID would appear for them, really. Put up just yesterday as a temporary wall designed to keep him from using the hang glider to escape by air, the nets were practically worthless at keeping people in or out; all one needed to do to get out on foot was lift the net itself and walk through. It wasn't exactly KID-proof, that was for sure.

Though, he admitted to himself with a grin as the throng of fans crowded around the pedestal in the center of the square, _nothing_ was really KID-proof, no matter what the police or detectives seemed to think.

Ah, and there was one of his favorites! Meitantei was here, struggling to get through the crowd of much taller bodies to get to the middle of the action. Wouldn't it be fun to _really_ challenge the kid and see how good he actually was?

Kudou-or Conan, at this size, he supposed-was the only one that could really keep up with him, now that Hakuba was always gone. If the shrunken detective had understood the trick last night, the setup would've been changed for tonight, no matter how difficult it would've been for Kudou to convince Suzuki- _san_ or Nakamori- _keibu_ to alter it-and other than keeping the crowd out, it was obvious that nothing had really been changed. But if he could play with the detective's head a bit, really get him going…

It was nice, having to actually work for a win-a lot nicer than just waltzing in and plucking the jewel up like he so often did when the Task Force was left to its own devices, at least. It was hardly any fun when there was no challenge involved. And if he could make heists more challenging for the detective, too… maybe, just maybe, he'd get a real rival again.

In moments, he was behind Kudou, ensuring that the miniature detective couldn't see him by placing the card gun at the back of his head. If Kudou turned around-well, there wasn't a guarantee that he wouldn't assume that he was looking at a mask, but Kaito wasn't taking any chances. He hadn't brought any disguises tonight, taking refuge in his civilian identity's status as one of KID's biggest fans to disperse any suspicions toward him, and that meant that if Kudou got a look at his face, he was only protected by the merest shadow the black ball cap could provide-and this close, it wouldn't do much good, seeing as the detective was currently so short that unless Kaito wanted to be completely blind, he would _have_ to let the detective see at least part of his face.

The distinctive _click-clack_ of the card gun would hopefully be enough to get Kudou's attention, and keep him from doing anything rash. Admittedly, this was probably a bad idea, but it was _KID_. It wasn't like he was a serial killer or anything, and Kudou had chased him enough to know he didn't hurt anybody if he could help it. The card gun was really just an empty threat-but hopefully a significant enough one that Kudou would respect the intent behind it and _not turn around_.

Kudou's sudden tenseness wasn't really a surprise, but Kaito did give the other boy credit for relaxing somewhat once he'd realized who was behind him, and for continuing to face forward. It seemed the detective did have some respect for him, after all. Kaito wasn't really sure that Hakuba would've done the same… knowing the stuck-up Brit, he would've probably turned around the moment Kaito said something.

But that was neither here nor there, and the clock was ticking. KID had a deadline to meet and an adoring audience awaiting him. And while stealing a few precious seconds to dare Meitantei into doing his best was fun, Ran- _chan_ was probably already looking for her charge.

Thurston's Principles were some of the best-known rules of magic, so it wasn't really a surprise when Kudou professed to knowing something of them already. But while he seemed to know the history behind them, Kaito wasn't certain that the detective knew the principles themselves, which were essential to his challenge.

Explaining them took only moments. "Never reveal your tricks" was first, because there was no _magic_ in it if the audience knew how it was done. Second, "Never explain what was going to happen before performing the trick", because the audience won't be amazed without the element of surprise. And third, "Never repeat the same trick twice," because the audience will concentrate on finding the trick behind it instead of on the phenomenon of the magic itself.

And it was all worth it when Kudou _finally_ got it. KID was going to be breaking Thurston's Third Principle tonight, and he fully expected Kudou to do his absolute best to catch him at it now that the detective knew he'd be pulling the same trick.

And if he didn't? Well, Kaito would be disappointed, but there would be plenty of other chances for Kudou to catch on and start living up to his nickname.

But Ran- _chan_ was calling for her charge—Kaito's time with Kudou was up. He would have to hope that his little dare had worked, and that Kudou would actually be taking him up on it, because there was no possible way he could stick around long enough to observe—

Wait. Kaito grinned to himself as he tagged the little detective in front of him with a tiny listening device and then darted off into the crowd before "little Conan- _kun_ 's guardian" could notice him. Even if he couldn't stick around to watch Kudou attempt to deduce how KID would be taking the gem in person, the bug would at least let him listen to Kudou's theories and give him some warning if Meitantei _did_ happen to figure it out.

It would never do to be _caught_ , after all. And with detectives like Kudou around, a phantom thief couldn't be too careful.

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The sound of the crowd was almost deafening, and the press of bodies was suffocating, but in Shinichi's line of work, particularly with his _experiences_ , one learned to pick some things out of any sensory overload, no matter how overwhelming. Even with every other person who passed jostling him, he immediately noticed the feeling of cold metal against the back of his skull. Even with everyone around him shouting and chanting, he could still hear the click of a gun's safety releasing as loudly as if it were amplified by a dozen speakers.

He was in public, surrounded on all sides by potential witnesses—even if most were preoccupied with seeing KID. And the gun was pointed at the _back_ of his head—if the killer was after revenge, or was the kind of psychopath who looked for a reaction from victims, that gun would be between his eyes, so that the killer could see his expression when he went down. Never mind that there was a low likelihood of _any_ disorganized killer actually managing to obtain a gun in Tokyo. And, most damning of all, _he_ was the one being targeted.

All of it added up to one conclusion—it was the Black Organization.

 _So, they've finally found me_ , he thought, panic and resignation warring for dominance in his mind, even as he struggled to keep his face blank. It was the easiest way to keep himself calm.

He should've known it would happen—no, he should've been more careful. He'd solved too many cases, let himself be seen as Shinichi too many times and gone after _Them_ too often. Ai was right, all along. He'd taken too many risks, and this was the result.

He just wished that he was actually the only one who would be paying. Months ago, before Tropical Land, he might've thought that was true… but now, he knew better. Agasa- _hakase_ and the kids would mourn him. Ai would… well, at the very least, she'd use his death as an excuse to stop trusting people again. Heiji would probably get himself killed trying to avenge Shinichi, which would be a gigantic waste of the Great Detective of the West's talent, as far as he was concerned. And Ran…

 _Please don't let Ran find the body,_ he thought, with a sudden thrill of horror. She was somewhere in the crowd, probably not that far from him, and it was perfectly possible that she could—

His thoughts were abruptly cut off by a familiar, gloating voice, and the brief swell of relief at the fact that he was not about to be killed for remaining alive was quickly overcome by deep anger. Was KID seriously threatening him with the card gun? What did the insane magician think he was doing?

 _He'd really better not be thinking that his gun is non-lethal_ , Shinichi thought.

As a magician, KID should know his tools. And Shinichi, as a detective, did know murder weapons, including potential ones. Sure, KID hadn't yet used the card-gun to kill anyone, but that didn't mean it was impossible. Shinichi had seen how fast those cards went, cardboard or not. If KID actually shot him in the skull at this range, he'd die—and if KID hadn't thought about that, he wasn't _half_ as smart as Shinichi thought he was.

But KID was blathering on about Thurston's Principles, so it seemed like he was just using the gun to ensure Shinichi wouldn't turn around while he talked. Most likely, this meant his face wasn't covered. So, wonderful, they were both vulnerable—except one of them was so because he hadn't bothered to put on his disguise, while the other one was so because he was being threatened with a projectile weapon.

And, for no better reason than to allow KID to goad him into looking more closely at the trick, as if Shinichi wasn't already going after the thief, guns blazing.

Ah. Bad choice of phrasing, there.

Because the last thing Shinichi really needed in his life, what with Haibara's raging paranoia and the actual encounters with members of the Black Org, was another reminder of how they could literally be anywhere, at any time. And how, by extension, he could be killed by them anywhere, at any time. He needed to thank KID for that. In fact, he thought he would start thanking him by catching his high-handed white-suited person and then leaking which jail he was in to the KID fangirls.

For the record, Shinichi was aware that he had vindictive tendencies. Under most circumstances, he tried to keep them under control. At that moment, though, he didn't particularly care to.

Worse criminals than KID existed, he knew—really, there were a lot of them. But none of them _annoyed_ Shinichi quite like KID. There was something so galling about watching him prance around Tokyo like God's own larcenous gift to humanity, grinning like everything was okay just because he put the jewels back and made the fans happy.

And, at that particular moment, Shinichi was just incredibly pissed off that he would dare to do something like this. To hold a potentially deadly weapon to his head, and then act like Shinichi should only be angry about the verbal taunting, like the weapon didn't even matter.

 _Does he not get it?_ he wondered to himself as KID continued talking. _Has no one ever done this to him? Surely the police have held him at gunpoint at least once by now!_

No, he had to have the requisite intelligence and experience to be held responsible for his actions, Shinichi decided. Thus, Shinichi was going to hold him responsible for them. If he intended to threaten and goad Shinichi into action, Shinichi was going to act with all the ruthlessness of someone who had been called into action in such a manner.

Normally, he treated KID heists as contests. Contests in which he was willing to be somewhat ruthless in the process of winning, but contests nonetheless. But with this little stunt, added to his consistent grandstanding and taunting of hard-working police officers, KID had leapt from the "worthy opponent" category to the category of "criminal who must be caught."

This wasn't about pride, or proving which of them was more intelligent. This was about the fact that KID was a criminal, a strain on police resources and a current threat to Shinichi's person. Shinichi wouldn't allow him to run free another night.

That determination was only strengthened when KID dropped the gun, moved forward in a soft rustle of fabric, and then darted away, just as softly, to be lost in the crowd.

He didn't see or feel anything, but there was only one reason that KID could have possibly had for getting closer to him after all of that. He could have found the bug, if he'd had time to search, but Ran and Sonoko were only feet away and the heist was minutes from starting. Then again… where it was wasn't particularly important. KID was good enough to place the listening device someplace where it would work, and that was all he really needed.

If KID wanted to hear information, he'd hear it. He had no reason to count on it being _accurate,_ though.

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	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: We the authors do humbly profess that we_ still _do not own the series or its characters._

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 **Missteps**

 **Part 2**

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Shinichi stood on top of the building, adrenaline and exhaustion combining into a sort of calm, satisfied high that allowed his tone in addressing KID to be more smug than elated.

He'd gone over the deductions a dozen times as he ran through the crowd, and his plan two dozen times in the elevator. They were as solid as they could be. If he hadn't figured out what KID had actually done, well, it was a really spectacular guess that just happened to fit every fact regarding the last heist—and if the plan didn't work, he'd misread KID completely.

Sure enough, he'd looked down and managed to pick out a black-cloaked figure braced against the building, standing vertically on the _kanji_ he'd thought looked strange the previous night.

Grinning, he leaned over the edge of the building and announced his presence.

Shinichi was fully aware that he looked frightening when he smiled like this. Ran had informed him of the fact that his "I'm-winning-and-you-know-it" smile was flat-out terrifying, and that had been when he was eighteen. He was physically eight now, and he had no doubt that the mismatch between the nature of the smile and the face it appeared on did nothing to make it less intimidating.

Then again, he was trying to unsettle the thief, so he grinned a little more widely.

He kept his tone calm and only slightly gleeful as he explained his deductions, and KID's current position. It wouldn't do to tip his hand and show his excitement, after all. KID was nothing if not a master manipulator—that was what being a magician _was_ , manipulating the crowd. Shinichi was hardly about to show him an opening.

He knew that, from a certain angle, he could be seen as threatening KID's mysterious assistant by pointing out that if KID wanted to escape, he'd have to allow his "counterweight" to fall to his death or be arrested. If KID rose toward the roof to complete his trick, the accomplice would be lowered toward waiting police officers; if KID cut the rope he was rigged to and tried to make a quick escape, the accomplice would fall, probably to his death. But Shinichi didn't really care. He was well aware that KID would not allow serious harm to come to his assistant—anyone with the barest familiarity with KID's _modus operandi_ would know it. It was a well-advertised weakness of KID's, and thus, fair game in constructing a trap for him.

No security system that could keep KID out existed. And if anyone ever managed to trap him _in_ something physical, short of a maximum-security jail, Shinichi was quite certain the same principle would apply in reverse. But a mental trap, one that removed options of escapeO by rendering them against his principles rather than attempting to remove them entirely, that could work. So he'd made every option either against his code as a performer or against his code as KID. Every possible escape that Shinichi could imagine would either reveal both this or last night's performance—breaking those laws of Thurston's he treasured so much—or cause his accomplice harm.

He was well aware that he was being ruthless; this was an escalation from their previous encounters. Sure, he'd kicked soccer balls at KID hard enough to bruise and gone after him with every resource available, but, normally, he reserved these sorts of psychological traps for violent criminals.

Then, again, how exactly was KID anything other than that, when he'd pointed a _gun_ at Shinichi's head less than an hour ago? But his policy was usually to wait until someone had been seriously injured or killed to begin with the psychologically brutal tactics—except, this time, he was really too pissed off and too worried to do anything less than his utmost in chasing KID. After all, not only did KID somehow know he was Kudou Shinichi, but he now apparently thought it was fine to go around threatening civilian detectives with weapons. This could be a sign of escalation. KID could be starting to become dangerous. And if he was, Shinichi himself was the one in the most danger.

He almost had to take some sort of drastic action, since there wasn't really another valid way of catching the thief. Stopping KID was necessary, and if he had to do some extreme things in the process of doing so, well—the ends certainly didn't always justify the means, but they sometimes could, and couldn't tonight be considered one of those times?

He ignored the part of himself that argued that even if what KID had done was wrong, he shouldn't respond by doing something he knew full well was also wrong. He let his anger overrule the logic that reminded him that one out-of-pattern action does not necessarily an escalation make. Most of all, he tried to ignore the very significant fact that, indirectly or not, his threat to another human life meant that he _had_ fallen to the exact same level that KID had during the course of the heist.

It was amazing what blind rage did to his deductive process—he functioned better when ill or injured than when extremely upset. Because when he was upset, he made mistakes, like assuming that he definitely had KID cornered, beyond the faintest shadow of doubt.

Of course, that arrogance soon brought about consequences. He swore furiously in his head when KID managed to burst free of his psychological trap, hand-in-hand with his accomplice as they soared into the Tokyo night. He was nearly incoherent with anger when he tossed the suspenders after them and missed—his aim was even more affected than his deductions when his emotions were this far out of control, and it was a miracle he'd even gotten _near_ them.

But when he had time to think a little more about it, he was more grateful than anything that KID had found a way out—had found _that_ way out. If he'd caught KID with such questionable, no, with such unacceptable tactics, he never would have been able to take pride in the 'victory.' But if KID had just managed to escape, in any way that left the ultimate fate of his accomplice in the slightest bit of doubt, Shinichi wouldn't have slept for the next week.

So, of course, the thief managed the one getaway that at once showed how inadequate Shinichi's attempt to corner him was, and reassured him that KID was still at least somewhat trustworthy. KID was such a friggin' showoff, honestly.

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Staring up at Kudou from his current position three quarters of the way up the side of a skyscraper, Kaito's first thought—okay, second thought, really; the first was a curse that could rival some of Nakamori- _keibu_ 's after that incident with the super glue and the bright pink feather boas—was something along the lines of _why did I ever assume that he wouldn't figure out I'd bugged him?_ Because, quite honestly, that was a _horrible_ assumption on Kaito's part, that Meitantei of all people _wouldn't notice the bug_.

Kaito should have known better. Kaito _did_ know better, actually. It was one of the reasons he considered Kudou to be one of his favorite critics. The detective was extremely aware of his surroundings and other people's actions, to the point of being able to predict, at times, how people would react. Kudou had probably figured out what KID had done almost immediately after he'd rejoined Ran- _chan._ It would certainly explain the, quite frankly, _ridiculous_ deduction that KID would reappear using a helicopter after retrieving the second shoe of the set, as he had during the last time Suzuki- _san_ had challenged him for the Blue Wonder at his museum. Even if KID's glider could still function properly in the wind currents thrown up by too many helicopters' presence, the Task Force and Suzuki- _san_ hadn't been allowing any air traffic at all anywhere near the site of the heist beyond the two police helicopters that had no doubt been double- and triple-checked for fake pilots, now that they knew that KID's accomplice was capable of flying a helicopter. Kaito mentally kicked himself for falling for Kudou's trap.

He was paying for that mistake, now. Kudou had caught him in the few most dangerous seconds of the entire heist, when Kaito wasn't the only one endangered by Meitantei's actions.

Jii was on the other end of the pulley, waiting for directions so that they could both get out of this safely. And with the way Kudou was talking, he didn't care if he caught one or both of them; even if he only managed to catch KID's accomplice, he would be happy with that.

That was completely and totally unacceptable in KID's book. Kaito was perfectly okay with threats to his own person. He'd even come to expect them. It was just part of the job. Fielding threats to himself, whether from Snake and his goons, his critics, the media, or even just the Task Force and Nakamori- _keibu_ , was _normal_.

But when someone threatened to go after Jii? Someone who was just helping him, who was merely associated with him? That was crossing a line. A _lot_ of them. Jii was innocent of Kaito's crimes!

Outrage burst to the forefront of Kaito's emotions. How could Kudou _do_ something like this? Threatening an innocent person! Detectives—and _especially_ KID's chosen critics—were meant to _uphold_ and _defend_ the law, be _honorable_ , _noble_ , even!

For Kudou to stoop this low… How _dare_ he? He was _Meitantei_ , KID's greatest critic! How could he not understand?

Going after Jii was an affront, an intolerable situation which eliminated Tantei- _kun_ 's status as "critic and challenger" and put him in the category of "threat"...

The same category that Nightmare had been in.

A threat to KID, to Jii, to _everyone_ Kaito knew. Relentless in pursuit of what they wanted—and that was the demise of KID, and all of the people who'd ever had contact with him.

And with Nightmare's threats at his previous heist at the forefront of his mind, Kudou's repetition of those circumstances was sickening.

Nightmare had blackmailed KID into going along with his plan, with the unspoken threat against Jii as the impetus. He'd _used_ KID to get the gems, and then turned the gun on him when KID confronted him about the truth of what he was doing, high up on that abandoned catwalk. If Kenta- _kun_ hadn't followed them there, distracted Nightmare—if the man hadn't fallen off the catwalk—

If Nightmare hadn't died that night, literally falling out of KID's grip to his death, all because of a threat to Jii's life, Kaito probably would have been rather more rational about Kudou's current attempt to catch him. He had, after all, dared Kudou to figure out the trick, although he certainly hadn't meant to spark such a vicious reaction in the shrunken sleuth. He'd merely wanted Kudou to do his best during the heist, not to drive him beyond the detective's own moral guidelines and into a mindset more befitting a criminal.

If what Kudou had done got Jii caught—

No. It couldn't happen. Kaito _refused_ to let that happen. There was a way out of this. There had to be.

Continuing up the skyscraper to face Kudou on his own terms might be the best option for Kaito's sake, but it would also drop Jii down into the waiting arms of the police. And if they worked it in reverse… Kaito could escape, easily, but whether Jii could get past Tantei- _kun_ to safety was less certain.

A few quick mental calculations solved the problem, and Kaito grinned up at Kudou as he flung off the black cloak that had served to hide KID's present location from the crowd, revealing his position on the side of the skyscraper. Still a miraculous event for the fans that had turned out to watch him tonight, though not exactly the one he'd intended. It would have to do.

And as for Kudou's assumption that there were only two ways for KID to escape… well, Tantei- _kun_ obviously had a few things to learn yet. KID was only too glad to demonstrate for him.

Given the choice between a high road and a low road, he'd take the middle every time.

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